Since the advent of the telephone, a variety of accessories have been developed for making telephone usage more convenient and for meeting various needs of telephone users. Among these accessories are cordless telephones. Cordless telephones generally include a base unit and a cordless handset or a headset. The base unit is typically coupled to a telephone wall jack or to an existing corded telephone set and includes a radio transceiver for transmitting and receiving signals between the base unit and the handset or headset.
Contemporary cordless handsets offer users most, if not all, of the operational features currently associated with conventional corded telephones. This includes notification of an incoming call, an ability to answer the call, to initiate a call, dial a number, to converse with the other party, and to terminate the call by hanging-up. This allows a user to rely solely on the cordless handset for all operational features of the telephone. Cordless handsets, however, like corded handsets, require that the user occupy one hand with the handset or require that the user cradle the handset between the user's shoulder and ear.
Cordless telephone headsets have emerged as another popular telephone accessory. The cordless headset is worn by the user and typically incorporates a microphone boom, a microphone, a speaker and a transceiver housed within the headset which allow the headset to communicate directly with a base unit. As such, cordless headsets allow the user to converse with another party while having both hands free and while having freedom of movement within the range of the transceiver.
Headsets, cordless and corded, however, only replace the functionality of a handset and do not include all the functions of a telephone. For example, headsets are generally not configured to initiate a call, to dial a number or to answer an incoming call. As such, cordless headsets typically do not provide an ability to control the base unit to go off-hook for receiving an incoming call or to go on-hook to hang-up the call at the end of a conversation. Thus, their utility is limited in that the user must be stationed near the existing corded telephone set to answer an incoming call. Only after the call has been answered can the user walk freely away while continuing the conversation. The user must again return to the existing corded telephone set to terminate the call by hanging up.
Cordless headsets are often provided as an after-market add-on for an existing telephone. As such, a cordless headset from one source or manufacturer can generally be used with telephones from a variety of sources or manufacturers. An example of a prior art cordless headset 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1. Headsets identical or similar to the headset 100 can be obtained from Hello Direct, Inc, located at 5893 Rue Ferrari, in San Jose, Calif. or by calling Hello Direct, Inc. at 1(800)444-3556.
The headset 100 includes a microphone 101, a receiver speaker 102 and a transceiver 103. The headset 100 is designed to allow hands free telephone conversations once a call is established. The headset 100 communicates via radio frequency signals with a base unit 104 which is coupled to the handset port of an existing telephone 105. A battery powered radio transceiver 103 is included in the headset 100. In operation, battery power is removed from the headset 100 when the microphone boom 106 is rotated upwards such that it is approximately perpendicular to the ground. When the boom 106 is rotated downward, battery power is applied to the headset 100 such that the user is able to converse with another party over the telephone. The headset 100 is designed so that it can be configured for use with an existing telephone 105. Thus, to install the base unit 104, the base unit 104 is electrically coupled to the telephone handset port. The handset 107 is disconnected from the handset port of the telephone 105 and reconnected to an appropriate port of the base unit 104. The headset 100 and the handset 107 can be used interchangeably, but not at the same time.
To place or answer a call, the user must remove the handset 107 from the cradle 108. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a prior art device for mechanically raising a telephone handset off-hook. The device illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 is currently available from Hello Direct, Inc., under the name TOUCH-N-TALK.TM. and is the subject of U.S. Pat. D358,594. By rotating a lever 201, a bar 202 engages the handset 107 and lifts the handset 107 from the cradle 108, thus placing the telephone off-hook. Rotating the lever 201 in the opposite direction replaces the handset 107 on the cradle 108, placing the telephone on-hook. Therefore, this device allows a user to manually answer and hang-up calls without having to fully remove the handset 107 from the cradle 108. The device illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 has a drawback in that the user must be in a position to manually lift the handset from the cradle in order to answer and to terminate a call.
FIG. 4 illustrates a prior art hook switch On/Off device described in European Patent Application No. EP 680,188. When an On/Off control signal is applied to a XOR gate 401, a driving motor 401 starts rotation of gears 402, 403 and semi-circular gear 404. Rotation of the gear 404 causes a member 104b to rise relative to a member 405, lifting a telephone handset from its hook switch. When the separating member 104b rises sufficiently, a sensor 407 signals the motor 401 to stop. When the On/Off control signal indicates the call is over, the motor 401 rotates the gear 404 until the gear 404 no longer engages the member 104b. This causes the member 104b to fall, dropping the handset onto the hook switch. The sensor 407 then signals the motor 401 to stop. This device has a drawback in that repeatedly dropping the telephone handset onto the hook switch of the telephone may eventually damage the handset, the hook switch or the telephone. In addition, the handset may become misaligned from the member 104b or from the cradle such that the handset may not land directly on the hook switch, causing the hook switch to remain off hook. Failure to properly hang up after a telephone call can result in unnecessary telephone charges, while later callers can receive a busy signal. Also, the linear lift mechanism and mechanical configuration of the commercial embodiment of this device allow it to be readily configured to only a limited number of commercially available telephone sets.
What is needed is a device that will notify a headset user of an incoming call and that will allow the user to reliably answer calls and to hang-up the calls from a remote location using the cordless headset. What is further needed is a device of the aforementioned type that is compatible with existing telephone units.